Geometric Design of

Highway Facilities
LECTURE 6 HGEN01E/HREN01E
DREXSIBAL
Sight Distance,
Alignment, and Grade
Design Concept and
Philosophy
Highway Geometric Design
Highway geometric design refers to the
calculations and analyses made by
transportation engineers (or designers)
to fit the highway to the topography of
the site while meeting the safety,
service and performance standards.
DESIGN OBJECTIVES
Usually, highway geometric design has the following objectives:
1. Determine, within the allowance permitted by the design standard
and right-of-way, the routing of proposed highway.
2. Incorporate, within the design standard, various physical features
of the road alignment to ensure that drivers have sufficient view of
the road (and obstacles) ahead for them to adjust their speed of
travel to maintain safety and ride quality.
3. Provide a basis for the highway engineers to evaluate and plan for
the construction of a section of the proposed highway
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
* Design speed
* Design traffic volume
* Number of lanes
* Level of service (LOS)
* Sight distance
* Alignment, super-elevation and grades
* Cross section
* Lane width
* Horizontal and vertical clearance
SIGH DISTANCE
SIGHT DISTANCE
Sight distance is
the roadway
ahead that is
visible to the
driver.
Sight Distance Elements
Two Types of Sight Distance
1. Stopping Sight Distance
2. Passing Sight Distance
Stopping sight distance
Stopping sight distance is the
distance traveled during a driver’s
brake reaction time plus the
braking distance for the vehicle to
come to a complete stop.
SSD
The equation to compute stopping sight distance without
vehicle skidding is
SSD
Design Values
Effect of Grade on Stopping
As a general rule, the sight distance available on downgrades is
larger than on upgrades, more or less automatically providing the
appropriate corrections for grade.
Design Values (Stopping Sight Distance
on Grades )
Passing Sight Distance on Two-Lane Road
In a two-lane road, the sight distance required when pulling out to the opposing lane to pass a
slow moving vehicle is critical in determining where no-passing zone should exist. The passing
sight distance is the sum
Initial maneuver distance (d1)
Distance while passing vehicle occupies
left lane (d2)
Clearance length (d3)
The clearance length between the
opposing and passing vehicles at the
end of the passing maneuvers was
found in the passing study to vary from
30 to 75 m [100 to 250 ft].
Distance traversed by an opposing
vehicle (d4)
Passing sight distance includes the distance traversed
by an opposing vehicle during the passing maneuver,
to minimize the chance that a passing vehicle will
meet an opposing vehicle while in the left lane.